Ocean
An ocean is your piratey world. In mundane, non-piratey MMORPG language, an ocean would be called a "server". The oceans are distinct and separate. In-game items cannot be traded between servers; doing so violates the terms of service. Each ocean maintains a separate Ultimate list. Subscriber Oceans Subscriber oceans allow unlimited free play, however non-subscribers are limited in what they can do. To unlock items and privileges, users can opt to pay a regular fee (payable monthly, quarterly, or yearly) to gain access to the restricted elements. *The Cerulean Ocean is currently the only subscriber ocean open for players. It was formed through a merger of the former Midnight and Cobalt Oceans on January 31st, 2012. Doubloon Oceans Doubloon oceans do not require a subscription fee. Instead, they work on a "pay as you go" model. Pirates may play as much as they like, but advanced functions require doubloons, which can be purchased from Three Rings. It is also possible to purchase doubloons with PoE, at the doubloon exchange. *The Emerald Ocean is a doubloon ocean that was formed through a merger of the former Sage and Hunter Oceans on January 31st, 2012. *The Meridian Ocean is a doubloon ocean that was formed through a merger of the former Malachite and Viridian Oceans on January 31st, 2012. *The Opal Ocean was the fourth doubloon ocean and opened on December 8th 2006. Opal is a German language ocean. *The Jade Ocean was the sixth doubloon ocean and opened on July 1, 2009. Jade is a Spanish language ocean. Testing Oceans *The Ice Ocean is a test ocean which requires a separate client to play (links to download the client can be found on the Ice Ocean page). The Ice Ocean was reset on 2005-02-16 , but no further resets are planned. There is only a small community of dedicated Ice players despite the fact Ice receives new features before the other oceans. Ice is only open to those players who have subscribed or purchased 24 or more doubloons from Three Rings in the past month. Former Oceans *The Azure Ocean was the first Puzzle Pirates ocean; it closed on 2003-10-27. Until the release of Ice, it was used sparingly to test major game updates. *The Indigo Ocean is a German language ocean which was shut down on 2006-12-31. It was not maintained by Three Rings, but by Gamigo, a separate company. This ocean required a separate subscription, payable in Euros. There remains Gamigo's German language wiki for MMOG's at http://wiki.gamigo.de/wiki/Puzzle_Piraten. (Their wiki looks down at the moment.) *There were several Chinese oceans (East, West, and others), but they are no longer available after the implosion of Three Rings's Chinese partner, Pulse Asia. *There was a Japanese ocean called Caribe run by a partner of Three Rings, GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.. It had the general layout of the Hunter Ocean and was shut down on 2010-5-5. *The Crimson Ocean was an experiment at a family ocean. It was opened on July 1st, 2009 and shut down on March 31st, 2011 . *The Midnight and Cobalt oceans were subscriber oceans. The Midnight Ocean opened during the beta development stage on October 27, 2003, while the Cobalt Ocean was opened on February 18, 2005. These two oceans were merged to form the new Cerulean Ocean during the ocean merge on January 31, 2012. *The Viridian Ocean was the first doubloon ocean to be opened. It was geographically identical to the Cobalt Ocean. Viridian and Cobalt were opened to the public simultaneously on February 18th 2005. . As of January 31st, 2012, the Viridian Ocean was merged with the Malachite Ocean to form the new Meridian Ocean. *The Sage Ocean was the second doubloon ocean and opened on August 19th 2005. . As of January 31st, 2012, the Sage Ocean was merged with the Hunter Ocean to form the new Emerald Ocean. *The Hunter Ocean was the third doubloon ocean and opened on April 20th 2006. . As of January 31st, 2012, the Hunter Ocean was merged with the Sage Ocean to form the new Emerald Ocean. *The Malachite Ocean was the fifth doubloon ocean and opened on May 6, 2008. . As of January 31st, 2012, the Malachite Ocean was merged with the Viridian Ocean to form the new Meridian Ocean. External/Other Links * Commonly discussed ideas from Game Design *Longjohngrey's beginner's guide to choosing an ocean, and accompanying discussion. * Printable maps ** Printable PDF map of the Cobalt/Crimson/Viridian Oceans ** Printable PDF map of the Hunter/Opal Oceans (the map of the Opal Ocean is identical, but with German island names) ** Printable PDF map of the Malachite Ocean ** Printable PDF map of the Midnight Ocean ** Printable PDF map of the Sage Ocean (the map of the Jade Ocean is identical, but with Spanish island names) Category:Terminology